


Charlotte (Ultimate Chronicles)

by letmewriteinpurple



Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: Action, Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Cora is a bitch, F/F, I Made Myself Cry, Please Don't Hate Me, SwanQueen is married
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-11
Updated: 2020-09-11
Packaged: 2021-03-06 17:54:03
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 3
Words: 14,153
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26182987
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/letmewriteinpurple/pseuds/letmewriteinpurple
Summary: What does it take to write the ultimate fairytale of all?Cora the Queen of Hearts kidnapped her granddaughter, Emma and Regina Swan-Mills' daughter named Charlotte. Charlotte is believed to be the most powerful magic wielder in all realms. In Emma and Regina's journey to save their daughter, something went wrong.Is their love enough to survive the ultimate battle?
Relationships: Evil Queen | Regina Mills/Emma Swan
Comments: 36
Kudos: 31
Collections: Swan Queen Supernova V: Forever Starstruck





	1. Chapter One

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [Ultimate Chronicle](https://archiveofourown.org/works/26059993) by [yuuhiuchiha23](https://archiveofourown.org/users/yuuhiuchiha23/pseuds/yuuhiuchiha23). 



> Thanks to my lovely Pinoy Swens, who supported me since day one. Love you ladies! xoxo!  
> Thanks to my beta, Denise. This person really helped me turn thus story to its best version!  
> Thanks to my artist, Yoz. She's amazing! And well... The missus wants some angst so angst she shall have!

_The Savior and the former Evil Queen stood up after rolling away from the bush. They looked around the place and realised that they succeeded, they are not in Oz anymore. They are in Wonderland, at last. –The Author_  
…

  
Red is the most dominant color in Wonderland. No matter how magical the realm seems, the married couple can’t get themselves to enjoy it. They had one particular goal in mind and that is to get their eight-year-old daughter, Charlotte, back. Regina secured the potion they had made for two days in their land, Storybrooke, on the inside pocket of her coat. Emma and Regina made it out of the bush where they landed from jumping on the portal from Oz, having travelled the realm for 4 days. Regina had been at her mother’s realm once despite it being a brief visit, she knows where to find Cora, or as the people from this realm call her, the Queen of Hearts.

Emma and Regina Swan-Mills, Sheriff and Mayor of Storybrooke respectively, walked towards the Queen’s throne with radiance and determination buzzing on their demeanor that nobody dared cross their way. 

“You came to visit me, Regina. I see you brought my daughter-in-law,” the Queen of Hearts greeted the couple as they stood at the foot of her throne. Cora continued examining her nails like she’s doing earlier and in all nonchalance she continued, “So rude not to let me know in advance that you were coming, but good thing I was expecting you.”

The Savior-former Dark One and the former Evil Queen were not having her act of innocence; hatred is evident in their eyes. Cora definitely knows that they will come after her, whether or not Cora destroyed all possible portals. The blonde Savior, Emma Swan-Mills, is a step ahead and has her right arm in front of her wife, sporting her red leather jacket trademark, jeans and boots. While the brunette former Evil Queen, Regina Swan-Mills, who has her hand outstretch ready to summon her magic, is wearing a yellow whole body coat and boots.

Their image alone radiates enough threatening energy that the Queen’s guards surrounded them in an instant. They didn’t hold them, no orders from their Queen yet. The blonde and Storybrooke’s Sheriff didn’t show any fear as she yelled, “Stop playing Cora! Give us back our daughter!”

The Queen of the realm shook her head and as she’s standing slowly, she said, “You came for my granddaughter… Too bad a lot has happened in your absence.” Then she smiled- the same smile her daughter Regina always feared because nothing good was ever behind it. “Magic is incredible, you know? There are worlds where time is different. For you, days may have passed but years have passed in other worlds.” 

Regina and Emma felt a shiver down their spines upon hearing this. They have an inkling of what Cora is implying. Still, they leeched on the hope that it not be the case.

“Come here, _girl_.” Cora told someone from where they came from. Heels clacking were heard.

Emma and Regina quickly turned to their back just in time to hear a faint, “Mom… Mommy…” The couple will recognize their daughter’s voice anywhere and anytime. But it never stopped the shock that was evident in their faces with looking at the young lady standing a few feet away from them.

Cora smiled upon seeing the two heroes’ obvious disbelief. “Charlotte, there you are…” she called and smiled even wider when the girl’s focus turned to her, her normally green eyes that she inherited from her blonde mother now turned to gray. “Look who came to visit.”

Instead of paying attention to her parents, Charlotte seemed to be very fascinated with the Queen standing just at the edge of the stairs. She continued her way and only after a few steps her two mothers seem to finally wake up from their reverie. 

“Charlotte!” Emma and Regina both yelled as they were held back by guards. Their eight year old daughter is gone, and it's only been six days. They now watch a young lady who has Regina’s brunette hair and Emma’s green eyes and physique stride past them. Charlotte’s eyes are focused to the woman who abducted her a week ago.

Emma and Regina were busy resolving a plague Cora herself caused. Cora seems to know that Storybrooke’s Sheriff and Mayor will ensure that their town is safe, and will most likely leave their daughter in the custody of a powerless older wolf and a cricket; namely Eugenia Lucas and Archie Hopper. Cora somehow learned that Emma and Regina’s daughter, a magic baby and the product of True Love, will have one of the strongest magic in the future. The child had showed potential since her early years but only when Charlotte successfully learned teleportation at the young age of eight did Cora made her move. She opened a portal which let out the darkest creature Cora had managed to collect. While Emma and Regina were busy playing heroes and saving their beloved town, Cora wrecked every portal possible. The mirror that once led Cora to Wonderland was shattered to pieces, Jefferson’s hat was torn to pieces, Rumplestiltskin’s shop was almost burned down, and she even stole all the magic beans. Everything was planned to give her enough time to conquer Charlotte’s mind.   
Still Charlotte remained light, even after eight years being raised with her dark grandmother. Cora was reminded of how Regina resisted the darkness when she was younger too. Keeping in mind how Regina ended up being the Evil Queen, Cora maintained her tactic. The tactic being making Charlotte believe that nobody could love her other than Cora. Cora blocked Charlotte’s memory too. Cora tried to manipulate Charlotte by getting her heart, but the girl’s heart like Emma’s, is irremovable by dark beings. And if only Charlotte didn’t love her like the fool she was, Cora would have used the curse of the Poisoned Heart. Since Charlotte loved her, silly girl, Cora was left with no option but to put her granddaughter under a spell that pushes her to do whatever the person she admires the most wants her to.

“No. No, no. It’s not time for hugs yet,” Cora said when her granddaughter is within her reach, three steps away from the top of the stairs. 

Nervous that the woman was holding their daughter, Emma and Regina fought the guards that were holding them. Using their magic they stilled the guards that were approaching, and sent the four guards into the air holding them there.

“My dear granddaughter had managed to help me. You finally did something right, Regina,” Cora continued her speech. The addressed brunette visually gulped. “Too bad she’s half Charming.” Cora caressed the girl’s cheek as she turned her gaze back at her young brunette granddaughter with obvious fake affection in her face. The gesture made Regina and Emma growl. “Despite that, her potential is unstoppable. She is the most powerful magic user of all the realms. I know why you have come. You’re very predictable. For this reason, I thought that it’s better for my daughter and the Savior to die by the hands of their own daughter, a worthy ending to this story.” 

Only then Cora looked at them, her smile not reaching her unreadable eyes, her face not giving anything away but only her words which intentions are clear. She’ll be using Charlotte to end Regina and Emma.   
Cora looked back at Charlotte, and while still wearing her smile she ordered, “Destroy them at any cost.” 

“Yes, my Queen, as you wish.”

Emma and Regina watched helplessly as their own daughter turned back eyeing them. They can’t fight their daughter; that is a fact. So they instinctively reached out for the other’s hand and held tight. 

Charlotte continued to descend, creating a lavender ball of magic with ease. She’s just eight and young but now… Both women knew that their daughter is not thinking right and is under a spell, or worse; a curse. They let go of each other’s hand, positioning both hands in a defense stance. They circled for a while, eyeing each other and gauging just who will attack first. All the while, Cora watched them in her throne, a smirk on her lips. She was about to coax the girl when Charlotte let go of the ball of flames and the couple made a shield, their body language saying they’re afraid of hurting their daughter in the process.

When the attack didn’t succeed, Cora smirked even more. She knows exactly what will happen next. 

Charlotte walked backwards, nearing at the edge. It is everyone who enters the realm’s knowledge that the fall in that precipice is forever. Meaning that if you fell, there’s no way you’ll ever come back alive. Its exact distance to the ground is not known, it is designed that way. How can they know? No one had the chance to get back. Charlotte kept on walking, a smirk now on her face. Every step she takes was two steps for her mothers, desperate to reach her before she really falls. When there’s only one more step left, the couple yelled her name before launching themselves to a frantic run. Charlotte leaned towards the edge, letting herself fall backwards.

Just before her feet leave the ground, the Sheriff’s hand reached her daughter’s and immediately pulled her closer. She and Regina caught Charlotte’s waist as their mouth hung out with silent screams of almost losing their daughter. Regina hugged her daughter fiercely, as did Emma. 

“My baby,” Regina whispered. She nuzzled her nose against Charlotte’s temple. 

“Hey Charlie,” Emma greeted when they pulled back. “We got you. Mom and Mommy are here…” The love and sadness are very clear in their eyes. Cora, who brought this upon them, was forgotten for a while as their hearts ache at the sight of their daughter, whom they have missed so dearly, in front of them.

The girl’s dull gray eyes seem to have gained some color and come to life. Her earlier insouciance seems to fade as she stared at the two women in front of her repeatedly.

“Mommy… Mom… You are my mother right?” She asked. Emma nodded strongly as Charlotte’s brunette mother wiped a tear that escaped her left eye. “I-I can’t feel it…”

Their daughter’s admission made Emma and Regina cry. “Yes. We are. You are our baby.”

Regina nodded as she followed her wife’s words. “I know this is confusing for you but we love you so much.”

They are about to hug their daughter again when Charlotte suddenly disappeared in red smoke. 

“What a disappointment!” Cora’s angry voice was heard. Emma and Regina quickly turned around. “Before long you ruined my granddaughter,” they scanned the area and saw Cora at the other end. “Well, if she’s not going to destroy you, I will hit you where it hurts you the most,” their daughter’ unconscious body suddenly appeared in front of Cora.

Charlotte’s eyes were closed and her body is dead in weight. 

“I will take away what you love most.” They run as quickly as they can as Cora hoisted their daughter in the air, her hand on the unconscious girl’s neck, “Your dear daughter.” 

“Let her go, Mother!” Regina yelled as they slowed from running.

“What are you doing?! Stop!” Emma yelled too. 

Cora smirked at them as she brought Charlotte a little further to the edge. Emma and Regina caught what the Queen of Hearts is trying to do as they ran again. The couple yelled their daughter’s name in unison as Cora threw her granddaughter to the precipice a few feet away from where she is standing. 

“Charlie…” Emma cried and as they ran even quicker. 

“No…” Regina whispered, she and her wife were almost at the edge, “It… This isn’t true.”

Cora didn’t wait for them, for as soon as she threw Charlotte into the precipice, she started walking towards the stairs. Her head was held high, a pleased smirked gracing her face, “Now you know that this power is the greatest force. It defeated you, and what you call True Love. You lost.” Cora’s laugh was heard by the still frozen guards. She was making her way to her throne again, barely flicked her wrist to remove the spell that bound her guards. 

She’s in her third step in the stairs when she heard her daughter’s voice in a foreign tone, a tone she never heard from Regina before and made everyone shiver, “No.” 

“You are the only one who believes that, but we know the truth,” Emma’s determined voice said, she reached for her lover’s hand only to meet it halfway.

“Charlotte is the proof,” Regina added. “Love is strength!” 

It is comical how they both turned their head at the same time as Cora met their gaze. And in a strong and loud voice, the Savior announced, “You have not defeated us, Cora. We’ll save our daughter and defeat you.” 

Cora stared at the two, bewildered, as the couple jumped head first to the edge. Emma and Regina dove towards the cliff intending to save their daughter and prove Cora wrong. The Queen of Hearts continued to stare at the spot where her daughter and daughter-in-law were before they jumped. And slowly her bewildered expression changed into a cryptic smile, she dismissed the guards scattered on the platform and requested for a wine to be brought immediately. 

Celebration, the Queen of Hearts thinks, is a must. She sat on her throne and gave a full, loud and haunting laugh that was stretched out in the whole platform. She knew she had won. She may not have the great power her granddaughter possesses but there’s also no one to stop her now. Without her daughter and her annoying wife, there’s no one overpowering her. 

And perhaps it’s the over joy and ecstasy of a future so bright that blinded Cora of the thought that maybe the former Evil Queen and the Savior, even their unstoppable creation of a child, are still alive. So when minutes later, when the couple of brunette and blonde came floating in the air, dragging their equally brunette daughter, the Queen of Hearts, Cora Mills, broke the glass in her grasp and abruptly stood up making her throne move back an inch despite its heaviness. The Queen of Hearts is livid.

“Impossible!” Cora shouted, her look more horrified than when she saw her daughter on a suicidal jump. She continued to stare, eyes bulged wide and mouth hanged agape, as Regina and Emma gently land. Her hand tinged with small broken glasses, blood slowly dripping on an equally red floor. Cora doesn’t even acknowledge it as she witnesses how Regina and Emma helped Charlotte up. “Impossible…”

The couple at the precipice shared a secret nod. They stalked closer to the middle stilling the guards who heard their Majesty’s shriek, all the while assisting their half unconscious daughter. 

Cora hissed as she flicked her wrist, releasing the guards from their stillness. The blonde only stilled them again. Cora scoffed with a flick of wrist to undo Emma’s magic. Emma stilled them again, and she and Cora fought about it for a while until Regina’s Evil Queen’s persona made itself known.

Flicking her wrist forcefully, the brunette twisted all the guards neck with her magic and the thud of their bodies meeting the ground is enough to make Cora, Emma and Charlotte jump. There is something about seeing the Evil Queen manifest herself now that has Cora contemplating whether to feel proud of the work she did with Regina or feel a little bit of fear that the Evil Queen’s wrath is directed towards her. “Looks like your unending precipice has its own flaw,” Regina said her voice is so casual it starts to bother the Wonderland’s queen. “The journey downwards is so long the only sensible thing to do is to go up.” 

Emma smirked. All that runs through Emma right now is how badly this will end up. The Queen of Hearts did mess with the former Evil Queen and a former Dark One. She pulled her daughter’s still clogging body weight towards her, a move that made her wife look at her. “We’ve got you covered now, Charlie…” she whispered to her daughter, aware of the cautious and similar green eyes eyeing her as she made Charlotte sit, and regained her position beside Regina after helping her.

“Tell us what you did to our daughter, Mother,” Regina demanded, her fist clenching tightly. She felt Emma’s supporting hand in her lower back, and instantly all the magic inside her body seemed to be much more alive. “What are you trying to accomplish?”

"I simply raised her. It's not my fault time here is very fast in comparison to yours." Cora masked her face in the same small creepy smile. “The same thing I want for you, Regina. The whole world and any other realm there is.” 

Regina’s jaw clenched and Emma didn’t try to stop her when the brunette took a step forward, “And what made you think I will allow you do that to my daughter?”

“I know for a fact that you wouldn’t,” Cora replied. Her voice is so calm Emma knew that there’s still something in her sleeves.

“Hence I got the girl. I simply cannot understand why you would waste such an ability Regina. Did I really raise a stupid girl? Or did that happen when you decided to play family with the idiots?”

“Do not call my wife, that,” Emma defended her wife. Emma knew that though Regina never had a proper goodbye with her mother, after banishing her from Storybrooke years ago and warning her to never set a foot in there again, there’s still a part of Regina that wishes her mother was proud of her. 

Cora laughed. Emma scoffed and Regina narrowed her eyes. “Well, I guess she can’t be helped now,” she said after she finished laughing. “It really pains me that you broke the girl. Her potential would now be a waste. Really, Regina, your parenting skills are overrated. You would really leave your daughter to an old lady and a powerless man? For what, a town you once cursed and one which will never like you?”

“Shut up!” it was Emma who yelled when Regina was stunned silent. “How can you know? You’re not capable of helping and trusting people.”

Cora has a point though, that, Regina is certain. The woman who once damned an entire kingdom and its neighbors for her own happy ending was lost after she met Emma and Henry. The woman who will never trust anyone with her loved one’s safety was lost on her. And that fact makes Regina angrier.  
Seeing her daughter in distress, Cora smiled. “Perhaps, staying here and leaving the idiots-“

“Absolutely not,” Regina immediately answered, without letting her mother finish. She cannot imagine raising Charlotte, living her life, without the woman she married. 

“Well then, you gave me no choice,” Cora heaved a dramatic sigh as her eyes turned bright gray. Cora is on fire.

From behind them, Charlotte’s eyes turned just as gray. She slowly stood up and gazed right through her grandmother. 

“Charlotte?” Emma asked and saw that the youngest brunette’s veins in her face and her hands are about to pop. She quickly turned to Cora and warned, “Stop it, right now!”

Cora smirked when she heard Emma’s voice, instead of doing just that, Cora stared more intently to Charlotte which her granddaughter did as hardly. It looks like the spell is wearing off and Charlotte is trying her hardest to resist whatever Cora is doing to her.

Regina knew by then that Charlotte is under a spell. Her mother can’t take Charlotte’s heart, just like her other mother, Emma. That must have been the cause that she can’t order anything to Regina’s darling daughter. Still, they didn’t know what kind of spell it was. “Mother…” Regina growled. “You will stop right this instant.” 

“You can’t stop me, Regina,” Cora said the veins in the side of her eyes are now visible too and her hands on her side are tightly closed shredding the glass there even more. By then, the older brunette’s hands were practically flowing with blood and she didn’t seem to care.

Emma stared at her lover, not knowing whatever it is that Regina wants to do. The brunette stood there staring daggers to her mother and Emma needed her to decide. Regina had always been the smarter one between the couple, so Emma just lets her decide whatever she thinks is best. Emma stared back at her equally brunette daughter and saw that her veins are bulging wide now and she’s afraid they will pop anytime soon. “Regina, you need to decide now,” she whispered in horror.

Regina looked back at her wife as she saw Emma trying to touch Charlotte on their daughter’s arm only to snatch it away. Emma must have felt a strong amount of magic if she stared at Regina in such disbelief. Regina hated it, that she had to make the decision, like it was expected of her and it is just easy. It was her mother and her daughter after all.  
The granddaughter and grandmother duo continued their staring contest. The vein in the corner of their eyes, paired with the gray eyes, told Emma and Regina that they were using a lot of magic. What woke them up from their trance was Charlotte’s hissing. Charlotte clamped her left hand to her right wrist as the right hand made a purple ball of magic. She seemed to be fighting herself as she continued hissing.

“Cora, enough!” Emma yelled as she suspended the woman in the air. Cora didn’t bulged though, she only smirked more. Emma looked sharply at her wife, “Regina, you need to decide now.”

Regina growled and threw her hand to the direction of her mother. Regina’s magic flowed from her hand and it hit Cora on the shoulder, which made the latter fall. The move successfully stopped whatever Cora was doing with Charlotte. 

Charlotte almost fell on her side, but like before, the strong blonde caught her on time. She felt the strangely familiar gaze from Regina. She doesn’t remember them much, but by the way in which her body reacts and how she feels with them, Charlotte knew they were going to help her.

“It’s okay, we got you now,” the blonde spoke as she made Charlotte’s body lean to her.  
Charlotte just nodded. She and the blonde looked ahead to the brunette who is still looking at them. Comically, Charlotte and Emma for some reason nodded at the same time. Regina returned the nod before she eyed Cora again. 

Cora unsteadily stood. She stared at her daughter’s standing form and Charlotte’s clearly spent body. The spell was more energy draining if you fought against it, which meant it would take Charlotte at least a few minutes to regain her energy. When she returned her gaze back to Regina, she realized that her daughter’s eyes were glowing purple. Cora knew by then, that this was the end. With heart or not, Cora is definitely dead. 

Emma stood beside her wife all the while carrying Charlotte’s weight with ease. Even with their daughter between them, Emma could feel her wife’s magic from where she stood. She stared down at Cora’s standing figure. 

A very angry Regina, a weak Charlotte and a very determined Emma, stood at the middle of the platform, with dead guards surrounding them. Charlotte may be the most powerful magic wielder in all the realms but there’s something more powerful than her, the greatest form of magic. It’s the thing called True Love, something which the family proved they possessed. 

As Regina’s eyes have more purple, the magic her body is producing becomes more apparent. The dead bodies of the guards started floating. Emma closed her eyes as she reached for Regina’s back, sandwiching Charlotte in their middle. Regina felt another source of energy, a stronger source of energy manifested in her the moment Emma touched her. It fills the gap on her power and fuels it at the same time. She slowly lifted her hands in synchronicity with other things around them. The throne was floating in the air in no time. The ground started breaking. Emma’s magic created an energy ball that immediately surrounded them, a protective shield that engulfed the family to keep the destructive magic out of their little sphere. Regina with her hands in level to her elbows now, intends to use her magic and the magic her wife provided to continue making destruction all throughout Wonderland.   
Charlotte opened her eyes and saw Cora using her magic to keep her feet steady at the uneven ground as her throne, dead bodies, tree veins, tiny magical creatures along with dust and various things that can be found in Wonderland, twirled around them. Charlotte couldn’t make up a thing from the chaos but all she knew was that she was safe, temporarily at least. Yes, they were safe with Emma’s defense but Charlotte knew that as long as Cora was alive, they would not find that particular peace they are aiming for. Her alleged parents’ presence gave Charlotte some idea and insight about her past, though not entirely clear, she could feel it. If it is true that her grandmother will use her against her own parents, Charlotte will have no choice but to at least try to help her parents defeat Cora. She had loved the woman. The words whispered in her ears for so many years, ‘nobody can ever love you like I will,’ and ‘you only had me when your parents abandoned you,’ were still fresh in her mind. Charlotte couldn’t kill someone who clearly didn’t kill her when she had the chance to. So, the young brunette closed her eyes and willed her feelings to take over her as she positioned her hand to create a white ball of magic, the most powerful ball of magic she could make. 

A flow of magic went through Emma’s barrier of magic. The blonde felt it. Emma kept herself focused on creating a shield that would counter Regina’s powerful magic, which had wrecked havoc all over the place. It required a great deal of magic, concentration and will, as its main focus was to keep them safe. Plus the fact that Emma was giving her wife a part of her magic too. When she felt that something passed through it, Emma opened her eyes but fought hard to keep her control. White magic burst through Charlotte’s hand and crossed the whirlwinds of things afloat their surroundings. It reached Cora and the white magic surrounded Cora. It snaked the woman’s wrists, waist and limbs and it suspended the Queen of Hearts in the air. Suddenly, everything stood still.   
Regina abruptly lowered her hand, as her vision returned to normal, making everything stop exactly where it was. She watched as her darling daughter’s powerful magic, which broke through her parents’ combined magic, held Cora in place. Around them, the platform is long gone. Its height decreased considerably with how the floor is beaten to pieces. The damage caused by Regina’s anger covered a radius of at least thirty kilometers from where they stood. What remained intact though, was Emma, Charlotte and Regina and the ground where their spherical shield stood. 

“Mommy?” Charlotte faintly asked as she struggled to maintain her hold.

Emma and Regina shared a look and they both nodded. Emma closed her eyes first, Regina followed suit. Emma slowly transferred every ounce of magic she could give to Regina and her wife took it eagerly. The blonde did it gently, so Regina could build her ball of magic as smoothly as possible. Red with a touch of yellow was what Emma could sense with her eyes closed. Regina inhaled and exhaled evenly as she created the largest and most powerful magic ball she had ever made. With Emma’s stable supplement of magic, Regina was able to form it in no time.

Cora’s shriek was heard, “No!” She tried to get away from her granddaughter’s hold but to no avail. Her shouts of horror were muffled with a crashing sound as her daughter released the massive ball of magic towards her direction. Hot flames were caught by her dress. Cora flew away from where she stood before, as Regina’s magic hit her. She may have flown a mile away from her original position. The Queen of Hearts was on fire, literally this time.

Even in the verge of dying, Cora didn’t feel a thing. The Queen of Hearts knew that death was inevitable. Her lack of a heart was the reason for her lack of feelings and that’s why even when she was dying, Cora couldn’t feel a thing. Not even remorse. It was really comical. Cora had said that Regina was going to be killed by her own daughter. Looks like her words met her. 

Cora is gone. Charlotte gently opened her eyes and was met by the weak and slowly disappearing magical shield. Cora is gone. She’s not where she was standing before. In fact, apart from them, nothing is standing where it was before. Charlotte’s body sagged with relief.

Like she had done numerously times before, Emma caught her daughter with ease. She turned Charlotte’s body to her, nestled her daughter’s head in the crook of her neck and kissed Charlotte’s hair. The blonde glanced over to her wife, who was still staring blankly at the fire where Cora was now burning. Emma touched Regina’s forearm to catch the brunette’s attention.

Regina didn’t face Emma but reached blindly for Charlotte. When Charlotte felt another pair of hands on her shoulders, she turned around to see Regina. The brunette mother welcomed her daughter in her arms. She cupped Charlotte’s cheeks and kissed the girl’s forehead.

Emma enveloped her wife and daughter in her arms and with great intention they prepare to go home. She engulfed both of them with her magic and transported them to the place where they can open a new portal and have a safe way back to Storybrooke. The trio left a completely destroyed and queen-less Wonderland in their wake. 

They made it to a clearing where a door, like the one they had read about in a book, was waiting to be opened. Regina released herself from their hug to get the potion they spent days working on out of her pocket. The potion which had been prepared with precision and caution, and had been completed with a particular incantation contained fairies dust, pieces of home (which they scraped out from the ‘welcome to Storybrooke’ sign), a tear of agony, a tear of joy, and a tear from a phoenix. They would have to cover the door with enough magical potion, a precise quantity, so that it could get them back home from a realm that Cora had closed off. Regina carefully and precisely dropped droplets of the potion onto its doorframe. She only had one chance to get it right, or else they would get stuck in this realm forever. The brunette stepped back and slowly walked towards her family, ready to leave the place that made them go through hell. They were ready to return home.

Emma held the door and fueled it with enough magic. She just needed to think about home. The blonde thought of Henry, her parents, the mansion, Granny’s, the welcome sign of Storybrooke and finally focused on Regina’s vault, where they agreed to make a door appear. When she felt a great deal of magic being taken from her, she knew it was done. She looked back to her expecting wife and daughter. The Savior opened the door for them.

They would finally be back home.


	2. Chapter Two

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm upset for writing this but it needs to be done. :")

Both women had a hand placed on their daughter’s shoulder as they walked out of the enchanted door. In a matter of seconds, they stepped out of the wrecked Wonderland and were back to Regina’s vault. The realm will definitely take years to get repaired but it won’t matter, that realm is full of enough wonder to get back in shape. Plus, their timeline is definitely faster than others. 

  
Upon entering the strange room, Charlotte looked around hoping to remember something. She does remember this room, not clearly, but she does find it familiar.

Regina and Emma, behind Charlotte, slowly sighed in sync, finally letting the sensation of safety seep through them. They watched Charlotte as the younger brunette took in her surroundings, looking so much like a stranger in her own realm. 

  
Suddenly, feet barreling down the vault’s stairs were heard and Snow White, followed by David, Henry, Zelena, and Belle came into the room. 

  
“Bloody hell,” Zelena said as the newcomers eyed the strangely familiar young lady staring at them curiously. 

  
“Is she…” Snow trailed off gesturing at Charlotte. 

  
“Yes Mom, she’s your granddaughter,” Emma answered and held her wife tight. She knew how Regina looked forward to watching their baby girl grow up, only to get the eight year old girl kidnapped and when they got her back seven days after, she’s suddenly sixteen. 

  
In an instant, Henry is engulfing Regina and Emma in a tight hug, having missed his mothers. Emma took note of Regina’s tired and sad demeanor, as they exchanged a small and tired smile with their heads resting in their twenty -year-old son’s shoulders.   
Snow White had her arms spread out waiting for her granddaughter to come to her.

Charlotte seemed to remember who she was as she launched herself forward like she always did when she was younger, not minding the fact that she is as tall as her grandmother, “Grams…” 

  
Snow cried in happiness as she caressed her granddaughter’s hair. David followed suit as he carefully draped his arms around her wife and loosely put his other arm around Charlotte, careful not to scare her or make her feel uneasy. The couple, cradling Charlotte’s head between them, gave a wide smile of relief to Emma and Regina who just disentangled from their son. 

  
“Hey little sis,” Henry took a tentative step forward, releasing his mothers. He went beside his grandmother and pulled them in a hug, all the while observing Charlotte and taking note of her features. Her hair had always been dark brown like Regina’s, her eyes are like Emma’s, and of course their grandmother’s chin seemed to be the constant feature of the family, but her pointed cheeks are very similar to Henry’s.

Snow White tapped their shoulders, wanting to be released. When she was free from the tight embrace she turned away hugging her husband, giving Henry the opportunity to hug his not so little sister. 

  
Charlotte gave her older brother a smile and hugged him tightly. Snow turned to her daughter and daughter-in-law, slash former step-mother, who were standing just outside the doorframe they had walked out of a while ago and were talking to Belle. She walked over to them, tapping David’s shoulder in the process of disentangling herself from his arms. 

  
“I believe you have finished the potion that will close this?” Regina asked Belle as the town librarian got something out of her pocket. It was the counter-potion to the one Regina used at the door. 

  
“Yes, this potion will remove all the magical properties and energy from the door,” Belle answered as she held up a clear potion with gray specs inside. 

  
“We’ll leave you to it, Belle. Charlotte needs to rest,” Emma said as she gave Belle’s arm a squeeze. 

  
“Of course,” Belle answered. “I’m glad the three of you are back.” 

  
Regina sighed, probably from tiredness too, “Us too.” 

  
That time, David went to where the ladies are. She gave Regina and Emma a quick yet warm hug before pulling away saying, “We need to put this outside so Belle can use the potion properly.” They watched as Belle excused herself and followed David, who surprisingly enough picked up the door without much effort, just letting out a small grunt but managing to carry it with ease and bring it out of the vault. 

  
Regina went over to where her sister was. Zelena gave her a hug muttering a, “I’m proud of you, sis.” 

  
Snow went beside her daughter and gave her a hug. Emma hugged her back and Snow White started caressing her hair. “We saw what happened from Henry’s book. The Author was recording what was happening. How’s Regina?” 

  
Emma let go from the hug and gave her a small and sad smile, “Still angry, but really tired. We should probably head home soon. I’ll catch up with you and dad tomorrow.” 

  
Snow nodded to Emma before she proceeded to give a lonely Regina a hug. “Welcome back,” Snow simply said and immediately left the woman’s personal space when Regina didn’t even return her hug. They just let go of the hug to see Zelena breaking from a hug with Charlotte. Henry offered her arms to her brunette sister again and she gladly went to his side. The siblings looked expectantly at their parents and the couple understood. 

  
The family made their way out of the vault as they said their goodbyes. 

\---  
“Would you like something to eat?” Regina asked Charlotte as soon as they entered the mansion. They had used Emma’s car to get home. They are all tired and in desperate need of rest, and they arrived exactly at night. Resting would probably be not hard to get. 

  
Charlotte shook her head, “I would like to rest, actually.” She looked around the house for the first time after eight years, or probably her lifetime since the Queen of Hearts removed most of her memories. 

  
That’s one funny thing about memories. Those events you can remember vividly or left you an impression are called memories. Memories are stored in your mind and the main reason why you can sometimes set them aside is because there are a lot of things your mind is handling continuously and simultaneously. One can never forget memories, they may be set aside yes, but memory literally means the process of recalling, which means memories are to stay with one forever, especially those which happened frequently and are really important. Some memories are carved in your heart, so much so that you can basically feel them. In Charlotte’s case she could remember at a deeper level, but it was all a blur. It felt like an illusion, something between reality and dreaming. Whenever she asked Cora about this strange sensation, Cora just shrugged it off and told her it was foolish and it only meant she was not being grateful of what she’s been given. Now seeing it with her own eyes, Charlotte thanks her memories, blurry or not. 

  
Emma and her wife stood nervously behind their daughter watching her reaction. The blonde reached for Regina’s hand in the space between them, which was always met in the middle with Regina’s hand. This time though, no warm and soft hand met hers and Emma looked at Regina with confusion written on her face, wanting to ask her why. Over the years, she and Regina had this special bond, like they know exactly what the other will do or think and they met halfway. Whatever bond that was, it seemed to be absent then. 

  
Regina was aware that Emma looking at her. Still, she made no move and continued staring at her daughter, with her hand falling limply on her side. Her face held no emotion other than the tiredness she’s sure everyone is feeling. Her emotions though, are a mess. Her anger and fury didn’t ebb, not even a little, and she was ready for another battle. That fact was proven when Emma took her hand and faced her fully, yet Regina didn’t say or did anything. 

  
Henry, who was standing behind them, knew what was happening. He had been watching their resigned bodies and expressions. At first, he thought that was the only thing that was going on. His mothers just needed time to rest, he thought. But looking back and seeing it in front of him, Henry knows there’s more. That’s why when his younger sister turned to look at him, he was more than willing to relieve the tension, “Shall we go upstairs then?” 

  
Charlotte smiled as she turned to them. She caught her brunette mother’s gaze and smiled widely. When she heard her older brother’s invitation she simply nodded. She caught her blonde mother’s eyes when the latter turned to her and she noticed that their holding hands were loose and not really there. Something was off, it felt mechanical, like it was not a willed action. When Regina walked towards her, taking her hand in the process, Charlotte knew by then that something was wrong, seriously wrong. But whatever it was, the young brunette thought to herself as Emma walked towards them accompanied by Henry, they will work it out. 

  
The Swan-Mills family climbed up the stairs.   
“We would have given you your room, but, seeing things changed,” Regina started and trailed off, “Do you want to take the master bedroom?” 

  
“But,” Charlotte stopped at the door of her mothers’ bedroom to look at them. “Where are you and Mommy going to sleep?” 

  
“We’ll figure it out, Charlie. Feel free,” Emma offered with a tired smile, more tired than before. 

  
Charlotte shook her head, “We have a lot of guestrooms.” 

  
“But you’re not a guest, sweetheart,” Regina said with a smile. 

  
Still, Charlotte shook her head, “It’s only temporary.” 

  
“If you say so,” Emma nodded and leaned deeper to her son’s body. 

  
Reluctantly, Regina asked, “Do you want us to tuck you in?” 

  
Charlotte smiled even wider, “That would make me really happy.” Charlotte held out her right hand for Emma, which she gladly took and they entered the nearest guest bedroom. Henry watched them leaning in the doorframe. Charlotte removed her sandals before climbing in the bed. She helped her parents settle the comforter over her body. 

  
“Call me whenever you need anything,” Regina said as she tucked Charlotte’s strand of hair behind her ear. 

  
Emma took note of how Regina used ‘me’ and not ‘us’. So she almost absent-mindedly told her daughter, “We love you, Charlie,” watching Regina closely wondering if she would offer any reaction. There’s none. 

  
When done, Regina and Emma kissed their daughter’s head and wished her a good sleep. 

  
They left the room, closing the door gently before silently walking to Henry’s room where he kissed both their cheeks and pulled them for another bear hug. “I am so glad we’re finally complete.” 

  
“Me too,” Emma answered eyeing Regina who is yet to talk directly at her. 

  
Henry noticed too so he held tighter.

  
“Henry, I get it that you missed us,” Regina started as she continued to ignore Emma’s gaze, “but we also need our rest.” 

  
“Of course,” he said with a sigh and let go of Regina first before turning to look at his blonde mother. 

  
When Regina made her way to their bedroom first, Emma sighed audibly enough that Henry must have heard her because he’s giving her another hug. She tapped the arm around her and said, “She’s just tired.” 

  
“I know,” was his answer before letting go.   
Emma looked back at him first and despite their height difference, she ruffled his hair. After doing that she turned to walk towards her and her wife’s bedroom. Standing outside the door, Emma took a deep breath, released it slowly and readied herself for whatever might await her on the other side. The blonde held the knob, but before she turned it she reminded herself that Regina is just angry. The brunette is yet to truly let go of her anger and voice out her thoughts, and Emma would probably have to face it for her wife. Emma reminded herself that she loves her wife, her wife loves her, they love their children, their children love them and their family is complete now. Emma turned the knob and opened the door. She doesn’t know why she did it, but Emma closed the door quietly.   
The blonde looked around but Regina is not in sight. The water running in the bathroom told Emma Regina is in there. She simply walked towards their walk-in closet and pulled out a change of clothes before stripping and putting it on. When she got out, Regina was already in bed. Emma took this opportunity to use the bathroom and calm her nerves. 

  
As she brushed her teeth, Emma convinced herself that Regina would be angry just for a while, she would then release all her pent up anger and everything would go back to normal. Well not normal, but everything would be good. Emma rinsed her mouth and moved onto washing her face. Regina married her and raised their children with her. The brunette vowed to do whatever was necessary so they could find a way back to each other again, regardless of what happens. Regina Mills loves her. Emma dried her face with the towel and looked at her reflection in the mirror. She looks tired. The blonde shook her head and nervously headed out of the bathroom. 

  
The view that greeted Emma was Regina’s back. She silently and cautiously walked towards the unoccupied side of the bed and carefully went inside the duvet. The blonde reached for her phone and stuffed it under her pillow. Regina turned to the other side blocking Emma’s vision of her face. Emma stared at the ceiling helplessly. She knew, of all people, that an angry Regina shouldn’t be pushed. So Emma waited for her wife’s volcano of emotions to erupt. No word has been spoken, their breathing was not even loud enough to disturb the other. The silence was not comfortable and it was filled with tension, but it is enough for Emma to feel herself slowly sinking to her tiredness. The blonde had her eyes closed, unwilling to sleep but unable to help it. 

  
Then Regina finally spoke, “You’re quiet.” 

  
Emma doesn’t know how to respond. It’s not like Regina asked a question, she said a statement. Emma hummed, just to be sure and to tell Regina she’s awake. 

  
“I said you’re quiet,” Regina repeated herself, a little louder than earlier this time. 

  
Emma bit down her lip to stop herself from sighing, “I’m not sure you want me to speak.” 

  
Regina scoffed. She lay on her back with a huff and mirrored her blonde wife’s position. The brunette is annoyed, angry and is searching for someone to blame. It’s the nasty truth. When Emma didn’t say another thing, Regina’s anger fueled even more. Her jaw is working and Emma might have seen it because she held up her hand and used her knuckles to trace Regina’s jaw. Regina turned away forcefully. “Do not touch me,’ she hissed and sat away from Emma. 

  
“I’m sorry,” the blonde quickly apologized sitting up too, she moved further away from Regina. 

  
“Are you really?” Regina asked, her eyebrows furrowed and eyes filled with unshed fury. 

  
“I mean it. I’m sorry, Regina,” Emma stated, deflected. 

  
Regina is so ready for more. So she asked, “About what?”

  
“For touching you unwarranted,” was Emma’s reply.

  
“That’s all?” Regina asked incredulously. 

  
“What did I do wrong?”

  
With Emma’s question, Regina leaped out of the bed. The brunette started pacing, her rage increasing by every second. “What did you do wrong?” 

  
Emma swallowed the lump in her throat. She had expected it, she’s ready. “Could you please tell me what I did wrong so I can fix it?”b

  
“There’s no way you could do anything to fix it!” Regina stated in between a volume higher than her normal speaking voice and hissing. 

  
The blonde held her breath as she stared at her brunette wife, “Can I at least say I’m sorry?” Emma figured it would be better to just apologize to Regina. 

  
“Even your sorry won’t do!” Regina is practically yelling now. 

  
“Regina, please keep your voice down,” Emma gently said as she closed her eyes tightly. “The children are sleeping.” 

  
Regina huffed and angrily crossed her arms in front of her chest. Her teeth are painfully grinding against each other but the ache is not enough to pull Regina out of her anger. 

  
“I’m sorry,” Emma apologised accompanied by a long and loud sigh, her posture giving away just how resigned she is. The blonde hoped her apology, despite not knowing what for, would be enough for Regina to let this pass and just rest; or at least let her anger go. 

  
“Are you really sorry, though?” Regina asked her fury showing. “Did you really mean the word, Miss Swan?” 

  
Emma opened her eyes abruptly. Her patience is now definitely wearing thin too. “It’s Miss Swan now?” Her warm and patient voice cannot be heard in the statement.

  
Regina didn’t bat an eye but instead tapped her foot impatiently on the floor, staring down at her still sitting wife, challenging her. 

  
Emma remembered their first encounters. The first encounters they had where insulting words and declarations made with hatred that was their thing. Mayor Mills always provoked Sheriff Swan and the latter never backed down. Emma wondered if that is exactly what the brunette is looking for right now, because if it is, Emma is more than willing to comply. “I didn’t even know what I did wrong.” 

  
“Of course you wouldn’t,” Regina scoffed. “I shouldn’t be surprised.”

  
Emma gritted her teeth and stared directly at her wife’s eyes. No, it wasn’t her wife. That would be the Evil Queen, the dark voice always lurking inside Regina’s head reminding her of her past and her darkest days. The blonde had seen that sparkle in her eyes before. Every part of Mrs. Emma Swan-Mills in her being told her to not fight back and to just let Regina do what she does, which means being angry. Still, the remnants of the darkness from the time when Emma had been the very first Dark One to resurrect were screaming at her to fight back. They were screaming at her that she did not do anything wrong, that she hated what happened to their daughter too and that she should have not apologised in the first place but nevertheless she did it, for Regina- like how everything she does is for Regina and their children. “What is that supposed to mean?” Emma, unlike the fuming Regina, had her voice deathly low when she asked.

  
“It means that you’re an idiot,” Regina snarled. 

  
Emma sat up straighter, now mirroring the challenging look her wife has on. “And you demanding me to say I’m sorry for a mistake I am sure I didn’t make makes you the wiser one here?” 

  
“I didn’t demand you to say it!”

  
Emma was gaping now, “But I did anyways because you won’t fucking tell me what I did wrong!”

  
“Because you should’ve known it yourself!”

  
“I thought I was stupid,” Emma smirked, tossing all her worries away as to where this conversation will lead. “And since we have established that you are oh so smart, why don’t you tell me?”

  
Emma’s comment fueled Regina’s rage. “Have you not seen my daughter?” 

  
Emma’s starting to see what this is all about. “I was there when we got her, remember? I was there fighting your mother, with you.”

  
“As you should,” Regina stated, her voice in a dangerous tone. She stepped at the edge of the bed, leaning forward and looking down at Emma, “It’s your fault after all.”

  
Emma angrily kneeled on the mattress to match Regina’s gaze. “It is no one’s fault but Cora’s. How is it that what happened to Charlotte is my fault?”

  
“I was not like this before Emma,” Regina started. “I don’t trust people easily, you know that. But I did anyway and for what? For you and your stupid heroic gene! What do I get in return? A missed chance to raise my child?!"

  
“I missed her childhood too, Regina!” Emma countered matching her wife’s tone. “You’re not her only parent, I am her mother too! Stop acting like you’re the only person who is being affected by all of this!”

  
“And what about what you made me do in Wonderland?”

  
“What do you mean?” Emma asked frowning, sitting on her heels.

  
“Why do I always have to make the call? Can’t you be responsible and make the decision for once in your life, Emma?”

  
“Regina, we have been practically living together for nine years, following your rules and respecting your decisions. You are much more smarter than me, you made that point very clear since the beginning.”

  
“It’s my mother, Emma!”

  
“Yes, your mother who abducted your child, since you claim her to be only yours.”

  
They took a break from yelling at each other. Emma stared right through Regina’s eyes without blinking hoping that the anger in her will lessen. 

  
It did not, so Emma sat back feeling rejected. The blonde continued, “I was playing defense and you were taking the offense, ‘cause that’s how we always worked. I also had these ‘idiotic genes’ long before I married you and had Charlotte.”

  
Regina didn’t flinch. She continued to stare hard at Emma, her jaw continually working.

  
When there’s still no response from Regina, Emma took it to herself to push Regina to talk to her. “What do you want me to do? Give up my position as the Sheriff? Ask Belle for a potion like the one August took? The one that will return someone back to a certain age?”

  
“You really are an idiot!” Regina shouted and started pacing again. “What do you think of your daughter? That she’s some sort of doll?”

  
“Well, you aren’t saying anything!” 

  
Regina snapped back, “Because it’s not right! Why would you even say that?”

  
Emma finally lost it, “Because I don’t know what to do anymore! I’m really out of options here. I have nothing else to offer to make things right. You’re being hard, Regina!” The blonde stood up from her sitting position. She held up her hand in mock surrender. “Regina, I get it that you’re tired and angry. I am too. Everyone is. Everyone needs their rest and none of us will get that if you keep on forcing war.” Emma sighed as she shook her head. She knows this will either anger Regina more or wake her from her fit of rage. “I am going to the loft.” Emma stared at Regina’s face one more time and saw that nothing has changed in her expression. Emma shook her head again before going out of the room. She went out in such haste that she didn’t even bother to change clothes or grab a coat; she didn’t even grab her cell phone on her way out. 

Regina stared mindlessly at the door of her and Emma’s bedroom. Only when she heard her wife’s vehicle turning away from their house did Regina broke from her trance. She helplessly sat back on their bed. Regina stared longingly at Emma’s side of the bed and caressed the still warm part of the bed. 

  
What have she done?

  
Regina’s tears finally spilled down her cheeks. She had pushed Emma away. She had made Emma tire of her. She pointed fingers at Emma when the blonde is obviously hurting too. Instead of letting her wife sooth her anger, she directed her anger towards Emma. She messed up. Regina slowly lay down on her side of the bed and faced the other and empty side. If she hadn’t fucked up, Emma would have been there. Emma should have been there, beside Regina, in her home and not in her parents’. If she hadn’t pushed Emma, she wouldn’t have to be alone tonight. This time, Regina got no one to blame but herself. Emma may have been an idiot, but Regina is stupid, a big stupid. 

  
The brunette blindly reached for her phone on the side table. She doesn’t know what to say or how to fix things. All she needs to do is call Emma. Regina dialed Emma’s phone number and it started ringing. She felt a vibration under Emma’s pillow. Regina lifted it up and saw Emma’s phone there. The sight made Regina cry even more. Regina ended the call, picked up Emma’s phone to deposit it on the side table and dialed Zelena’s number instead. After three rings, Zelena answered.

  
“Zee,” Regina cried as she called her older sister by her nickname, “I fucked up.”

  
“Oh dear,” Zelena’s tired voice followed by a yawn greeted her. “What happened?”

  
“I think I pushed Emma’s last button,” Regina tried to explain but her cry only becomes louder and harder. “I’m so selfish!”

  
“Where is she?” 

  
“In the loft.”

  
“Did she say anything before she left?”

  
“No, nothing at all.”

  
“I’m sure she’ll be back. Try to rest, Regina.”

  
“No, Zelena. I don’t think she will be coming back,” Regina sobbed and cradled the phone between her face and the pillow when she lay down on her side facing Emma’s empty spot. “I blamed her for what happened and I called her stupid and I told her I hate it that she’s a hero and I… I fucked up, Zelena.”

  
“Did you call her? You want me to do it, baby sis?”

  
“Her phone is here.”

  
“Well, fuck.” Zelena yawned on the other end. “Have you tried going to the loft?”

  
“I’m not even sure she wants to see me!”

  
Zelena sighed, “Of course she does. Emma loves you, Re…” 

  
Whatever Zelena is planning to say is cut off by a knock on Regina’s bedroom door. Regina looked over her shoulder to see if it will open and reveal Emma. It didn’t so Regina stood up to open it herself. She’s halfway there when the door opened just wide enough for her to see Henry… with Charlotte behind him. The sight made Regina want to cry more but as a mother she quickly wiped her tears and told Zelena, “The kids are here, I’ll call you in the morning.” Regina didn’t bother to wait for a response as she ended the call. Regina wiped her tears immediately as she gazed at her children. She stared helplessly at her children, who Emma had thought about first when Regina was so worked up and being selfish over her own pain. Henry was looking at her with sadness and disappointment in his eyes, Regina should know. Charlotte looks sad, scared and reserved towards her. She should have thought about them before she sort of drove their other mother away. 

  
“May we come in?” Henry asked with a sigh. Henry knows her brunette mother. She’s quick to anger and often lashes out. She got better managing her anger issues ever since she married Emma though. So Henry really had hoped that this time it wouldn’t be any different. He guessed wrong.

  
Regina nodded. Charlotte and her brother walked towards their brunette mother slowly and warily. Regina opened her arms for them but only Charlotte came to receive and return her hug. Regina stared at Henry’s eyes first and he shook his head in response. Regina swallowed hard. 

  
“Are you and Mom going to be alright?” Charlotte’s small voice asked.

  
Regina cupped her daughter’s cheek. Honestly she didn’t know but still she kissed her forehead. “I hope so.”

  
Henry shook his head one more time. “We should rest.” He’s an adult now, years ago he might have yelled at his adoptive mother, but he knows her fears and concerns, Emma explained those to him years ago when he admitted he didn’t know how to be an adult and asked for her help. Emma said adults sometimes make mistakes. Her birth mother had said that Regina cares about and loves people very deeply, so much so that sometimes she wants to protect them from the world or hold to them too tightly. _‘Henry, you need to be understanding and patient. People have a lot of fear and they are all different. Age really doesn’t matter when it comes to fears and reservations,’_ Emma had once said. He understands that her mother is hurt, both of them are. The only thing he doesn’t understand is how could she do this to Emma? How can she do this to the woman she loves dearly and who she married despite her fear of life-long bonds? Henry doesn’t understand so he tries to be patient.

  
“Do you want to stay here?” Regina asked. 

  
“I don’t want you to be alone,” Charlotte answered with a nod and she looked over her shoulder with an expectant look waiting for her brother’s response. 

  
Henry simply nodded. Any other day he would have winced and would have told them he’s a twenty-year-old adult, but not today, especially when he is the man of the house and obviously the only one who is not too tired to tell them to rest. 

  
Charlotte let go of her brunette mother, the one who used to carry her, she remembers now. Regina walked to her side of the bed and gestured for Charlotte to climb in first, she also put her phone on the side table next to Emma’s. Charlotte obeyed and lay in the middle as Henry went to the other side and climb in leaving a lot of space between him and his sister. Regina knows her son is a gentleman and won’t do anything to harm his sister so she just went to her side and lay. Charlotte faced her and gave her a small sad smile. 

  
“Sleep,” Regina gently told her daughter. Charlotte nodded and slid closer to her.

Regina put an arm on Charlotte’s waist as the younger brunette slowly went to sleep.   
Regina watched Henry’s back. She knows he’s awake and probably thinking. She wanted to touch him, say sorry or just… something. She didn’t though. 

  
“You need to rest,” Henry said. 

  
“Henry, I…” Regina was cut off.

  
“That is what Ma would say,” Henry said and shuffled a bit to find a comfortable position. “If Emma was here she would just tell you to rest, so rest.’ He lay on his stomach and didn’t utter another word. 

  
Regina smiled sadly at the comment. Henry had sounded so sure that even if Emma was not here, the blonde would probably still be thinking about her. He has the heart of the truest believer. Regina supposed that it was his gift, to easily believe things. She could only wish she could do the same. 

  
With much uneasiness, worry and regret, Regina fell into an uncomfortable sleep.

  
\---  
Snow White continued to hum a lullaby as Emma’s head rested on her lap. The blonde had cried herself to sleep. Emma didn’t explain anything to her but told David, her father, everything that she could remember from the previous hours. Snow White understood that whatever this was, it was definitely about Emma and Regina. Ever since the two got together, Snow White had always been vocal of her support for Emma and Regina; her support going as far as suggesting another grandchild, hence Charlotte. While David stated his support but didn’t go over the top and remained respectful of their space. He always tried to stand in the middle and remained neutral, much to Emma and Regina’s gratitude. It didn’t matter though, because as soon as David and Emma finished talking the latter crawled to her mother’s arms and cried as hard as she could without being questioned. Snow took her in her arms, something she never had much of a chance to do. And now, Snow is leaning on her bed with a sleeping Emma on her. 

  
“They got into an argument,” her husband’s voice said from the doorway. “I can’t tell you the whole detail because Emma wouldn’t like that, but she’ll go back to the mansion. She just needs rest.”

  
Snow White nodded despite her curiosity and dismay. It didn’t matter. Snow knows Emma and Regina love each other dearly. They may spend hours apart, days, years though she hopes not. They may even be realms apart, but they’ll still end up with each other. 

  
They will always find each other.


	3. Chapter Three

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Last chapter! I cried so much just by writing this and I reallyyy hope you'll like the ending. This is the best I've got! My own journey writing this story had been amazing! Tears of joy and agony were my company as I closed the last chapter. Thank you soooo much future readers!

Emma silently walked through the back door in the kitchen. The blonde and Regina had caused enough noise earlier that Emma is sure their children woke up. She left the bug at her parent’s loft and decided to walk her sleep off after she took a two hours nap at the loft. It had been three hours since she left, Emma is sure her family is sleeping by now. 

  
She planned how she is going to talk to Regina as she poured a glass of water. Emma had a feeling that she will need to wet her dry lips before this conversation. Gulping mouthfuls of water, Emma listed the things she wanted to apologise for. Emma shouldn’t have left. She should’ve let Regina talk. After all, she promised the brunette that she would always listen to her. She should have understood Regina’s point about Charlotte’s age. 

  
The only thing though is that Emma will never apologise for being the Savior. Helping people comes with the package, and like so many other things it has its pros and cons; it’s in her title for goddamn’s sake. She will never forget that the first thing that she did as the Savior was waking up their son, Henry, from the sleeping curse. Emma will never forget how Regina tried to convince her that magic is a good thing and not something to be frightened of. Regina taught her how to use magic, just as the brunette taught her how to love. They literally made their daughter out of True Love. Magic comes with her title and her destiny as the Savior; it comes with a price, yes. Emma is sad that Charlotte’s childhood being gone is their price, but Emma hopes that if ever she asks Charlotte, the young girl will understand. 

  
Emma took a deep breath as she placed the glass in the sink. The blonde climbed up the stairs and winced when the third step from the bottom up made a creaking noise. She had forgotten about that, Emma must have been really tired. Emma continued her way up, wary of more noises her carelessness will make. When she finally reached the top of the stairs, Emma felt sick. Well, it’s time to face the music! She’s about to walk towards their bedroom door when it suddenly opened. 

  
“Emma,” Regina who obviously just woke up whispered in awe, tiredness, and relief showing on her face all at once. 

  
Emma had a sad and small smile in her face as she greeted her wife, “Hey.” 

  
Regina quietly closed the door and when done immediately pounced towards her blonde wife. She threw herself towards Emma’s arms, arms circling on the blonde’s neck. She buried her face on Emma’s neck, immediately damping the skin with her tears. She had slept uneasily and lightly, any noise that may indicate Emma’s return woke her up. She’s glad that’s what she woke up to. Emma smelled like hot chocolate and cinnamon, like she always has. Emma feels cold though she still has her coat on. Emma is home. For Regina that’s all that matters. 

  
Emma caught Regina perfectly, having done it a lot of times in their eight years of marriage. She wrapped her arms around the brunette’s waist and squeezed it softly. Soon after the gesture, Regina’s body started to shake, crying. Emma just held her tighter, pulling her in so much closer to her, that the barefooted brunette had to stand on her tiptoes. 

  
They held each other tightly, above the staircase, of their bedroom. The glass windows letting the moonlight enter into the second floor. They look perfect, like they always have. They were the perfect match, despite the imperfect relationship they found themselves in. 

  
“I’m sorry,” Regina apologized as soon as she got her sobbing under control. She pulled her face away, just enough for their noses to barely touch. Regina searched Emma’s eyes and only found dullness and tiredness. Like she has no tears left to cry. To think that she caused that effect in Emma broke Regina’s heart. Unable to face it, Regina looked down. Emma had always been her sunshine after the rain, the water that quenched her thirst and the seed of hope to her dying garden. But now, the life in the green of her eyes is not there. It’s like a light has been switched off. 

  
“I’m sorry,” Emma apologized too, trying hard to make Regina look at her without removing her hand from the brunette’s waist. 

  
Regina shook her head wildly. “No, Emma, it’s my fault-“ 

  
Emma tried to interject, “Hey now-“ 

  
But Regina just carried on, “I shouldn’t have blamed you. I should have known that these recent events had been hard for you as they have been for me...” 

  
Emma just shut her mouth, knowing that Regina will probably not stop now. 

  
“There’s no excuse for my reaction. I shouldn’t have yelled at you…” Regina started crying again, still not looking up at Emma. 

  
With one hand Emma carefully moved away the disheveled hair blocking Regina’s eyes, and tucked it under her ear. 

  
Regina shook her head wildly, making her head messier. The brunette tightened her grip on Emma’s neck as she continued rambling her apology. “I shouldn’t have taken my anger out on you. I know you mean well with your suggestion about Charlotte…” 

  
Emma tightened her grip on Regina’s waist to assure the other woman that she’s here. 

  
“And I’m stupid for calling you an idiot-“ 

  
“Regina-“ 

  
“You know I didn’t mean it-“  
“Regina-“ 

  
“And Charlotte needs you-“ 

  
“Regina, look-“ 

  
“Henry needs you-“ 

  
“…Look at me please-“ 

  
“And I need you!” Regina is sobbing really hard now, her body growing stiffer than it was earlier. 

  
“Regina, stop.” 

  
“Please don’t leave!” Regina closed her eyes tightly afraid of the possibility she had finally driven Emma away. 

  
That had been the last straw on Emma’s side as she removed her arms around Regina’s body to use her hands to make her wife look at her. Regina still had her eyes closed but the redness in her eyes can be seen, though they are closed. Her eyelids are all swollen. Emma hated seeing that. Gently, Emma pushed her face towards Regina’s and placed the softest kiss she could give on Regina’s lips. It’s just a feather touch, yet enough to make Regina whimper. 

  
Nobody moved and time stood still. Only then the couple realised that it had been a while since they’d last been intimate. Regina welcomed the familiarity of the act as she found herself sinking deeper into their embrace, like she has always done before. 

  
When the brunette’s stiff body melted in her touch, Emma whispered just above her wife’s lips, “Please, Regina, stop.” 

  
Regina opened her eyes, carefully and fearing the worst. When she finally opened them, she saw Emma’s eyes awash with new tears. Regina’s frown deepened as she launched herself forward again. “Please don’t leave me…” she whispered in Emma’s neck. 

  
“I won’t.” Emma snaked her arms around the brunette’s waist again. She slowly caressed the woman’s back. Emma needs her wife to calm down before they have this conversation. She repeated the reassuring words as she continued to rub her wife’s back. “I’m here. I won’t leave. I will not run away again.” 

  
Emma is really here, Regina knows. Her warm hand is on her back, soothing Regina’s fears. Emma’s warm breath and comforting words of ‘I’m here,’ ‘I won’t go,’ can be heard through the silence of the night. It’s alright. Her wife won’t go. Emma will not leave her. Regina’s eyes started to tear up again, not with sadness and anger like before, but with gratitude. Her body molded with Emma’s as relief started to take over her body.

  
Emma felt Regina’s new batch of tears wetting her neck. She looked around and saw the banister of the window that held her memories of Regina gazing down at her whenever Emma was doing her job as a Sheriff, doing her night patrols and stopping at the front of the mansion just looking at her smiling wife. Easily carrying her wife’s weight, Emma guided them towards the window. The blonde sat at the wide banister as she opened her legs and made Regina sit on half of her lap. It took a great deal of balancing both, herself and Regina, as the latter kept her head on Emma’s crook of the neck, giving in and growing more limp in Emma’s arms and embrace. “Can you look at me, Regina? Please?”

  
Regina swallowed hard, pulled her face and opened her eyes to meet Emma’s gaze. She stared right into her blonde wife’s eyes and forced herself to listen to Emma. 

  
“I love you,” Emma stated and smiled gently at her again crying wife. Emma wiped Regina’s tears using her hands as she said, “That is the most important thing you should never forget.”

  
Regina nodded her head, biting her inside cheek hard to keep her sobs at bay. Emma loves her deeply and Regina failed her. 

  
“I shouldn’t have left. I promised you that I will never leave you alone but I failed to keep my word,” Emma said as she pulled the brunette’s body closer to her. “I’m sorry.”

  
“I should be the one apologizing,” Regina said with a frown and sniffled. 

  
“I understand your concerns, Regina. I thought hard about our relationship and you were right, you always make the decisions but I always thought you liked it and that’s how you…” she was cut off by Regina. 

  
“I understand, Emma.” Regina said with a sad smile. “And you never once complained. I took advantage of your trust in me deciding for the best.” The brunette cupped her wife’s cheek as she said, “You know I didn’t mean it, right?”

  
Emma smiled sadly and nodded, “You’re just tired… and angry…”

  
“Still, I apologise for taking it out on you. It’s not right…” Regina shook her head as she felt tears building in her eyes.

  
Emma rested her forehead in Regina’s, “I know. I understand.”

  
Regina gulped hard and bit the inside of her cheek to stop crying.

  
Emma sighed and continued, “You’re right, I was stupid…”

  
“You’re not.”

  
“…for what I said about Charlotte’s age.”

  
“You’re not stupid, Emma,” Regina searched Emma’s eyes to tell Emma that what she’s saying is true. “You are not stupid.”

  
Emma chuckled, because of course with what she apologised for, Regina will notice the ‘stupid’ comment. “I’m your idiot, remember?”

Regina hesitated to answer. She felt Emma’s squeeze, as if telling her that it’s fine. Still, Regina replied, “Maybe… But you’re not stupid.”

  
“I want to be your idiot, again.”

  
“You do?” Regina was hesitant with the term.  
“I do,” Emma said sternly. 

  
“Okay,” Regina said and got off from her position in Emma’s lap. She stood in between the blonde’s parted legs and held her face in front of hers. “Charlotte is our daughter, mine and yours. Do not ever doubt that.”

  
Emma smiled softly and wrapped her arms around Regina’s hips, “I know.”

  
“You have the right to express your thoughts. I just think we should ask Charlotte first. I think whatever she decides to do, we should just support her.”

  
“That’s what I thought too.”

  
Regina sighed deeply and buried Emma’s head in her neck. The brunette stared outside their window where the moon is shining brightly. The sky was black and the stars were shining. The sight looks so cold and Regina remembers something. Leaning her weight to her wife, Regina asked, “How did you get home?”

  
“I walked,” Emma answered.

  
“Are you still cold?” Regina made Emma look at her by cupping her cheeks, Emma shook her head. “Remove your coat.”

  
Emma obeyed. “I had an hour and a half sleep at the loft. Did you sleep?” 

  
Regina smiled as she took Emma’s coat, which she recognized as Snow’s and just set it aside not wanting to be apart from Emma’s body. “Henry made me. He said that if you were here you would tell me to rest.”

  
“He’s right,” Emma agreed and pulled Regina closer.

  
Regina cradled Emma’s head at the crook of her neck. She ran her fingers through Emma’s hair, a gesture which received a hum of appreciation. “You gave me a scare, you know,” she admitted.

  
Emma looked up at her, resting her chin on Regina’s chest.

  
“A part of me knew we were going to get Charlotte back because we have each other. But…” Regina swallowed hard as the thoughts of her fear take over her again. “…I didn’t think I could ever get you back once you left me. And I thought…” Regina shook her head and Emma is yet to speak. “I don’t want to live without you, Emma. I hate sleeping without you by my side. I can’t imagine how a day would go if I don’t wake up in your arms. I…” With Emma’s silence, Regina turned desperate. She pulled their faces together and in a whisper she said, “I don’t want you to leave me, my love. Please, don’t.”

  
Emma held up her hand to get rid of Regina’s tears. She doesn’t know how to say this or how Regina will react to this but her father is right. 

  
David had said that if someone truly loves you, they will accept the whole you. Snow White had accepted David as he is, shepherd or prince, he’s often dimwitted and his main strength is fighting and being charming. Every time they fight a battle, they are putting their lives at sake. They fight for people against evil, that’s what heroes do. If they die, they will leave a legacy, as it is the only honorable thing they could leave to their child after providing for their child when they were still alive. Still, Snow White and Prince Charming remained a united front and kept their titles as heroes. 

  
Unfortunately for Regina, she married a hero too. With a sigh Emma closed her eyes and caressed Regina’s cheek, hoping she would understand. 

  
Regina’s ears perked upon hearing Emma’s sigh. She searched for Emma’s eyes but they are closed and instead searched the blonde’s expression. She swears she felt her heart stopped beating. This is the end. A part of Regina’s mind is sure. Maybe Emma is just here to see the children before saying goodbye. Maybe Emma is here to break up with her and have her sign divorce papers. But her whole heart argued, Emma did say she’s here and she won’t go. Or maybe Emma just said all that to calm Regina. The brunette’s whole body stiffed.

  
Emma felt Regina’s body going stiff. So Emma held her tighter and gently opened her eyes, “Regina I want you to understand…”

  
“No,” Regina weakly said as her hands went down to Emma’s shoulders, where she swirled the strap on it and gripped it hard. “You…” the thought of it makes Regina weak. “You’re going to leave me, aren’t you?”

  
Emma weakly and humorlessly chuckled. “I was hoping you won’t make me leave.”

  
Regina is so confused, “What do you mean?” she asked. She sounded like she’s afraid to know the answer because that’s how she feels. 

  
“I will never say sorry for being the Savior, Regina,” Emma said with a sigh. “I will never be able to hold myself back from helping people… That’s… That’s who I am. And I will never change…” 

  
“Please don’t.”

  
“And I’m sorry to disappoint…”

  
“You never disappoint me, Emma.”

  
“But this is who I am, Regina…”

  
“And I love you,” Regina’s response seemed to be the right one because Emma stopped. 

  
“You still do?” Emma asked in wonder.  
Regina nodded.

  
“Even though I’m stupid?” asked Emma.

  
Regina nodded, “You said you are my idiot.”

  
Emma smiled tentatively, “Even though I will continue saving people?”

  
“Saving people is fine, you dying isn’t,” Regina replied and let go of Emma’s strap as her body relaxes. She patted her wife’s shoulder and tucked some hair behind her ear. She pulled their faces together and tilting her head a little, Regina kissed Emma’s lips. She made it just as tender as Emma had done earlier. “I love you,” she declared her lips still on Emma’s.

  
Emma smiled against Regina’s lips. A kiss just as sweetly was her response. “I love you,” she said nevertheless.

  
“Are we fine now?” Regina asked.

  
Emma nodded and stood up, wrapping her arms around Regina’s waist. “We are. Let’s rest.” She stood up carrying Regina on her waist.

Regina tightly wrapped her pajama-clad legs on Emma’s hips as Emma made her way towards their bed. Regina used her hand to open the door clearly forgetting that their children were there. 

  
“Uh…” Emma started as a smirking Henry and smiling Charlotte greeted them. 

  
Regina patted Emma’s shoulder as she made her way down and stood beside Emma, both their cheeks flushed.

  
“Welcome home, Ma,” Henry greeted. 

  
“Did you two made out now?” Charlotte asked.

  
“Of course they did,” a still smirking Henry answered. Charlotte was confused.

  
“Henry!” Regina chastised and blushed harder. Emma just laughed as she grabbed Regina’s hand and walked towards their bed. 

  
The two children moved to make space in the middle for them. 

  
“Scoot over!” Regina told Charlotte. Charlotte smiled and moved so she’s now between Emma and Regina. 

  
They were settled soon after. Henry is beside Emma, his arm draped around the three ladies. Just like that, Henry knows that finally their family is complete. 

  
They are silent and contented for a moment when Charlotte thought of something. “Can I offer anyone a gift? I don’t know if it would be enough but I hope it would suffice.”

  
“Without a doubt, Charlie.”

  
“We would love it.”

  
“Sure thing.”

  
Charlotte took all of their hands and held them with both of hers. She took a deep breath and remembered her grandmother taught her how to see someone’s memory, she learned how to secretly give her memories to someone. Her parents’ greatest concern is missing her teenhood so Charlotte will give it to them. It’s not like she had a lot of bad memories with Cora, but she will only give them the good ones though. It requires a lot of energy, knowing that she hasn’t mastered it yet and she doesn’t want to create any more conflict or trigger another blaming game between her parents. She kept their three minds connected to hers as she relieved some of her favorite memories as a child. 

  
Charlotte reading a book like she and her brother love to do ever since Charlotte learned how to read. 

  
Charlotte removing petals from roses and scattering them on the ground like what she and her blonde mother Emma always do on Valentine’s to surprise Regina.

  
Charlotte humming a lullaby she didn’t recall where she had learned it; it was the lullaby Regina used to sing to help her to sleep. 

  
Charlotte successfully making a stone jump a few times on water before it sank, like how Emma used to show her.

  
Charlotte eating an apple, her favorite fruit in secret because for some reason it is not allowed in Cora’s palace.

  
There are more memories that Charlotte wants to give them but after a while she grew tired and let go of their minds. “It’s the best I can give,” she patted their hands resting on her stomach.

  
“Thank you, Charlie,” Emma said and kissed he daughter’s temple.

  
“That was cool,” Henry replied, “Thank you.”

  
“Thank you, Charlotte,” Regina said as she wiped a few streaks of sweat on Charlotte’s forehead.

  
Charlotte yawned. Henry did too. Emma and Regina chuckled.

  
“Sleep,” Emma gently said.

  
Charlotte just nodded and eventually went to sleep, Henry falling asleep after her. 

  
Regina caressed her children’s arms and welcomed the familiar and cozy feeling of it all. Emma calling her name made Regina look at her. 

  
“I love you,” Emma said.

  
“I love you too,” Regina happily replied.

  
…  
_Their story is far away from perfect as their characters are human and they make mistakes. They were complex, beautiful and unique in their own way. They argued, forgave but most importantly loved. Still it took the truest believer, the Savior slash former Dark One, the former Evil Queen and the most powerful magic wielder to create the ultimate fairytale of all. –The Author_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> By the waaaay, for what it's worth, the Swan-Mills family lived happily ever after. :")))

**Works inspired by this one:**

  * [Ultimate Chronicle](https://archiveofourown.org/works/26059993) by [yuuhiuchiha23](https://archiveofourown.org/users/yuuhiuchiha23/pseuds/yuuhiuchiha23)
  * [Ultimate Chronicle](https://archiveofourown.org/works/26059993) by [yuuhiuchiha23](https://archiveofourown.org/users/yuuhiuchiha23/pseuds/yuuhiuchiha23)




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